Saint-Étienne (France) (AFP) – England manager Roy Hodgson praised his side for their performance against Slovakia on Monday despite a frustrating 0-0 draw that condemned them to second place in Euro 2016 Group B.
“I have to say I don’t think we could have done too much more than we did — we dominated the game from start to finish and had so many attempts and so many chances as well, and one day we’re going to put those chances away,” Hodgson told ITV.
“As far as I’m concerned I can’t fault the effort and the work the lads put in,” added Hodgson, who made six changes to his starting line-up for the match in Saint-Etienne.
“It’s a little bit embarrassing I think that we’ve played three games now and in each of the three games it’s been attack versus defence.
“I actually never thought I’d see an England team in a tournament be able to dominate three games as much as we’ve done so that gives me some sort of satisfaction.
“I’m pretty sure that sooner or later we’re going to make somebody pay because if we keep dominating and creating chances like that we’re going to score goals one day.”
Wales won the group thanks to their 3-0 defeat of Russia, leaving England to face the runners-up in Group F in Nice next Monday, and possibly facing a quarter-final against hosts France.
Hodgson added: “We are still in the last 16 and who is to say that the team we’ll play by finishing second is going to be that much stronger than the team we would have played that’s finished third.
“The way we are playing I’m not frightened of anybody.”
